Making the Most of Your Personal Support Network When Losing Weight

A personal support network when losing weight is the best of both worlds: you are able to combine the need for spending time with your family on their terms and having them hold your feet to the fire for keeping or breaking your diet. Yet before you assume that all it takes is the request for a bit of familial help and the conviction that you will welcome correction and perhaps somewhat stern rebuke for failing to make good on your weight loss promises, remember that losing weight with a family scrutinizing your progress can be a double edged sword.

1. Your friends and also your family are a vital part of your personal life. Do not be deceived into thinking that you can handle criticism well when it comes consistently and from all sides; instead remember that while the saying that “behind every great man stands a great woman” may apply to marriage, it may not necessarily pertain to losing weight successfully. Many a personal weight loss plan fails not because the plan is not realistic or the dieter is not committed to the changes required in the daily lifestyle, but there simply was too much accountability coming at the dieter too quickly, and before long food became the one friend who would not judge. In this manner, the personal support network can actually become the dieter’s greatest liability.
2. Setting boundaries is the key to making your weight loss goal known but without jeopardizing your self esteem and respect to you by the family in the process. Failure to clearly define boundaries may put a serious damper on your family interactions, and might actually aggravate deep seated power struggles. To this end it is vital that you start small and assign specific tasks of accountability to specific family members. For example, while your spouse should have the greatest leeway of correcting your actions as pertaining to diet, children should only be put in charge or warning you away from potato chips or obvious diet busters.
3. Remember that you must have signals to make family interactions work. Following the adage that there is a time and a place for everything, losing weight with the help of your family is a personal process that should not be broadcast to others or be made fun of in any manner. In the same vein, family members should know not to question your food choices in front of others, or make you feel less than respected within earshot of other people. Remember that while you do not mind being corrected in private, having the same thing done to you in public most likely is going to create problems.
4. Last but not least, understand that even well defined boundaries require occasional tweaking. As your weight drops, or as you are moving onto a different phase of your diet plan, the odds are good that you need less accountability and more encouragement. Discuss these matters with your family often and early, and you will be rewarded with a great personal support network.